What you need
- iPad
- iPadOS 16.4 or later
- Purchase
- The same App Store purchase as iPhone
- Hermes
- Any Hermes you can pair with
npx herald-setup - Best with
- A larger iPad in landscape for three columns, and a hardware keyboard for shortcuts
Layouts by window size
| Window | What you get |
|---|---|
| Narrower than 700 points | The iPhone layout |
| 700 points or wider | The roster beside the open chat; the inspector slides in over the chat |
| 1,180 points or wider | Roster, chat and the inspector as a third column, plus two chats side by side |
Herald reads the window, not the device, so Split View and Stage Manager change the layout as you resize. The side-by-side layouts also need the window’s shorter side to be at least 600 points.
Mission Control
With no chat selected, the middle of the screen shows Mission Control: “Everything your bots are doing, on one screen.” The fleet board lists who is working and who has unread replies, or says “All quiet”. Cards show upcoming scheduled jobs, mail waiting in bot inboxes, kanban totals (running, blocked, in review and open) and what your models cost over the last 7 days, read from your Hermes usage figures.
Message several sends one prompt to a set of bots you pick, each into its own chat. If Hermes is offline, Mission Control shows what the app last saw and says so.
The inspector rail
The inspector describes the chat you touched last. Plan shows the bot’s to-do list; tap a step to mark it done or skip it, or jump to it in the chat. Agents opens the tree of subagents in the current turn. Context shows how full the context window is and lets you compress it. Workspace shows the model, working directory and session. Skills and MCP servers are counted, and Schedules lets you create, pause and resume the bot’s jobs without leaving the chat.
Show or hide it with the button in the chat header or ⌘⇧I. Skills, MCP and schedules cover bots on your primary connection; for bots on another computer the card says it is not available.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘K | Search bots |
| ⌥↑ and ⌥↓ | Previous and next bot |
| ⌘N | New bot |
| ⌘0 | Mission Control |
| ⌘⇧I | Show or hide the inspector |
| ⌘⇧P | Toggle Hermes Pet |
| ⌘⇧D | Open or close a second chat |
| ⌘⇧M | Talk to the bot |
| ⌘. | Stop the bot |
| ⌘↩ | Send the message you are typing |
| Esc | Dismiss |
Hold ⌘ to see the list on screen. The shortcuts work whether or not a text field is focused.
Two chats and drag and drop
- Open a second chat
In a wide window, long-press a bot in the roster and choose Open beside, tap the split button in the chat header, or press ⌘⇧D. Group rooms can go in either pane.
- Fill the empty pane
The new pane says “Pick a bot from the roster to open it here.” The roster fills whichever pane you touched last.
- Drag files in
Drag files, images or text from another app in Split View or Stage Manager onto the open chat. They wait in the composer until you send.
- Drop on a bot
Drop the same items on a bot in the roster to open its chat with them ready to send.
Limits on iPad
- Apple Watch and CarPlay pair with an iPhone, not an iPad.
- Mission Control can’t go in the second pane.
- Hands-free voice runs in one pane only; the second pane stays quiet.
- Narrow windows drop back to the iPhone layout and fold the split away.
Questions
Is the iPad version a separate app?
No. Herald is one universal app. Buy it once and install it on your iPhone and iPad.
Do my iPhone and iPad show the same chats?
Yes. Conversations live in your Hermes, not in the app, so both devices show the same bots and history. You pair each device once with the QR code; things like pins are kept per device.
Do I need a keyboard?
No. Everything works by touch. A hardware keyboard adds the shortcuts in the table above.
Can I use it in Split View or Stage Manager?
Yes. The layout follows the window size: wide windows get three columns, narrow ones the iPhone layout.
